Piper PA-28-140 N8001H

Summary

On 22 December 2006 at about 18:35 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N8001H was involved in an accident near Bridgeport, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 December 2006 at 18:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Bridgeport, California, United States

Coordinates

38.2867, -119.0422

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N8001H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Yerington → Lone Pine

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX07FA061

1 person died.

The pilot's attempted VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions and subsequent failure to maintain aircraft control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was mountain obscuration.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

There were no known witnesses to the accident. The non-instrument rated pilot was on a cross-country flight over mountainous terrain. There was an Airmen's Meteorological Information (AIRMET) advisory for mountain obscuration by clouds, precipitation, mist, and fog that included the area along the route of flight. A radar target that transited the expected flight path from the departure point at the time of the airplane's flight displayed climbs and descents consistent with attempts to avoid clouds. The airplane collided with the mountainous terrain in an extreme nose down attitude at high velocity. Investigators discovered no anomalies with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.